Automobile-headlight.



G. PELHAM. AUTOMOBILE HEADLIGHT.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 29, 1915' v 1,171,237, 1 Patented Feb. 8,1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

ad Fen 8,1916.

MEETS-SHEET 2.

6. PELHAM.

AUTOMOBILE HEADLIGHT.

APPLICATION FILED ocT. 29,1915.

Patent J9, Z5 TWQMIIHHIIHIIIII $TAT PATEntrjoF-mon GEORGE ZPELHAM, on LEAD, SOUTH- nAKorA,irssIcNoaor ONEAHALF 1'0 CHAMBERS KELLAR, or LEAD, scorn nleuzozm.v

"To all 'w homc't may concern:

'Be it known that I, GEORGE a citizen ,of the United States,lresiding at l 1 Lead, .inv the county of Lawrence and'State of South Dak'ota, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements 7 Automobile- Headlightsg" and I- do hereby declare the "following to be a full, clear, and exact de- It is an ob ect of the present-iiivention to is being turned.

scription of the invention, such aswill enable others skilled in ,the art towhich it appertains to make and use the same; g-j

ments in automobile head-lights, {and icon sists more particularly in anflimprovedflattachment arranged to beremovably secured to the. front ofv an automobile oro T her. ve}

side in. front of the vehicle when the-vehicle I provide an improved attachment of the above character which will beautomatically operated from themovement of thesteeringy gear in turning-the vehicle, and the lamp structure will be preferably arranged in a; single casing" or block constructed for detachable mounting on the-front of the vebe'- interc'epted by the forwardly difected hicle radiator frame centrally between the Hflectors and lamps and 11; the front of main head-lights and at an elevation there'- above so that the divergent. rays will not rays of. [the main lamps.

-. in providing. an improved lamp attachment A further object of the invention resides for; vehicles including circuit closing means I period with reference to the turn ng of the actuated from the steering gear for illuminating said lamps; and. which means will be adjustable to, illuminate the=lamps at any vehicle, and whichwill be secured in position and *against' accidental displacement when the gear connections with the steering mechanism are disengaged.

With these and other objects invention. consists in the novel; details of construction and combinations of partsmore fully hereinafter disclosedand particularly pointed out in the claims. 3 ,f L 1 awings forming-u In the accompanying dr I a part ofthis application, and in which similar reference symbols-indicate corre: sponding 'f'parts in the several views: Fig ure 1 is a ragmentaryside elevational 'vlew,

Specii ficatien of Letters Patent. Application filedoctober 29, 1915.1 Serial 1%. 53,617.

The present invention-relates toiimprove- 1 in .view the aa'nad Feb. 8, 19 16.

partly in section, ofa vehicle equipped with auxlhary lights constructed in accordance wlth the present invention. I fragmentary top plan view of the same. Fig. 3 1s a front elevational view of the same. Flg. 4 is an'-enlarged-top plan view,

.partly in section, of the switch operating mechanism. Fig. '5-is a, vertical sectional view taken on the line 55 in Fig; 4:, and Fig, 6' 1s a 'dlagrammatic view .of the clrcuit COIlllGCtlOHS; for the improved attachment.

Referring more particularly to the: drawings, I desi ably attached thereto by bolts, or other means, 4, passing through perforated lugs 5 projecting from opposite sides and in-'v tegral with the block 3. P

As will be apparent more particularly from Fig. 2, the front wall-of the block 3 is curved and theblock is formed with divergently disposed recesses 6 and 7 the rear walls 8 and 9 'of which are fitted with reeach of the recesses 6 and 7 being inclosed by suitable len'sesf The recesses 6 and 7 are ates generally an automobile. or'other veh cle, a nd 2 the'usual head lamps Fig. 2'is a advantageously semi-elliptical in horizon-' tal section,tfor which see Fig. 2; and hyperbolicalin vertical -section, as compare Figs. .1and3.

Referring now inore particularly to Fig..

6, the lampslO' and 11 are connectedrespee' tively by leadsfl2 and 13 to-arcuate contact plates 14 and 15, forming one side of the lamp circuits; said-circuits being completed through ax'common return 16 including a battery," or -other'source, 17', and a switch 18 in electrical-connection with the return 16', and mounted. to swing with-. =a segment 19 fpi voted,=: as indicated at QT-on, a base .The-steering:shaft 22 is provided with a segmentalpin10n23 normally meshing with in Fig. 5, the ends of each of the contact plates 14 and 15 are curved or inclined to readily receive the switch arm 18 and 1nsure a good contact therewith. Slots 25 are produced in each of the contact plates 14 and 15 through which engage clamplng screws 26 for permitting adjustment of said contact plates with respect to the central position that the switch arm 18 is shown occupying in Fig. 4:; and wherebythe perlod at which the lights 10 'andll are switched in with reference to the turning of the vehicle may be regulated.

Plates 27 and 28 are secured by screws 29 and 30, or otherwise, to the base board 21, and are provided with sockets 31 and 32 for engaging complemental heads 33 and 34, respectively, on the ends of a flat spring 35 secured centrally to the segment 19, as indicated at 36, and having the free ends bent downwardly therefrom, as will appear on inspection of Fig. 5. In dotted lines in Fig. I the segment 19 and switch arm 18 are shown shifted to switch in the lamp 10 when the vehicle is being turned to the right, and

the head 34 shown occupying the socket 32 in the plates 28; the segmental pinion 23 on the steering shaft 22 being thereupon released from the rack 24:, 'ermitting further operation of said shaft to negotiate a sharper turn without further shifting of the switch mechanism, which latter is held securely in position by the ball and socket latch, and which will be'readily disengaged when the steering shaft is reversed and the gears rengaged.

A switch 37 is interposed in the return 16 for cutting out the operation of the lamps 10 and 11 during the day-time, and said switch is adapted to be placed on the dash or instrument board of the vehicle. As

the base board 21, carrying the various parts of theswitch mechanism, is arranged to be mounted on the vehicle foot or instrument boards at the base of the steering post and naygadvantageously be inclosed by a housmg 8.

From the foregoing description, taken in connection with the drawings, it will be obvious that as the steering shaft 22 is turned in either direction to turn the vehicle, the switch arm 18 will be shifted to engage one or the other of the contact 14 and 15 and close the circuit through the corresponding lamp 10 or 11, and thus illuminate the road about the corner. On reversing the steering shaft 22 for straight-ahead running, the

switch arm 18 will be disengaged from the contact, interrupting the circuit, and will be brought to the intermediate position shown in full lines in Fig. 4. p

It is obvious that the device may be readily mounted on any types of vehicle and connected up to the of the improved steering apparatus for automatic operation, and the same will be practical in avoiding accidents.

I am aware that auxiliary lamps have been mounted in connection with the vehicle head lamps for illumination only when the vehicle is being turned, notably U. S. Patof contacts, means for adjusting said con-- tacts, a switch normally resting between said contacts and pivoted to swing to engage either one thereofydisengageable gear connections for actuating said switch, and means for maintaining said switch in shifted position during the disengagement of said gear connections, substantially as described.

2. A device as described including circuits, adjustable contacts in said circuits, a pivoted switch for swinging to engage said contacts, disengageable gear connections for actuating said switch, socket plates to either side of said switch, and spring-pressed heads on said switch for engaging said socket plates to temporarily maintain the switch in shifted position during the dis engagement of said gear connections, substantially as described. shown more particularly in Figs. 1 and 2,

3. In a device of the character described, the combination of circuits, contacts included in said circuits, a switch normally at rest between said contacts and movable to engage either one thereof, a gear element associated with said switch, a second gear element normally in mesh with the switch gear element but disengageable therefrom, socket plates to either side of said switch element, a spring secured to said switch element, and heads on the ends of said spring for e151- gaging said socket plates when the gear elements are disengaged to maintain the switch on the respective contact, substantially as described.

4. In a device of the character described, thecombin'ation of a rotatable post, a gear element on said post, a pivoted gear elementmeshing with said first-named gear element, a switch arm connected to move with said last-named gear element, contacts to either side of saidswitch arm, circuits including said contacts and switch arm, socket plates to either side of said pivoted 11 said post normally r segment and disena, flat spring secured segment, heads on the ng, and socket plates gear segment for reud flat spring to hold :h in shifted position :tionsare disengaged, .bed.

10f, I aflix my signa- 25 iORGE PELHAM.

gear element, and spring-pressed heads on said pivoted gear element for engaging the socket plates to maintain the switch arm on the respective contact when the first-.

adjusting said contacts, a pivoted switcharm normally resting between said contacts and movable to engage either one thereof,

- a pivoted gear segment connected to move with said switch arm, a rotatable post, a

fragmentary pinion o in mesh with the gea gageable therefrom, centrally to said gear ends of said flat spri to either side of said ceiving the heads of s: the segment and swit when the gear-connec substantially as descri In testimony where ture. 

